I'm not sure if the People's Settlement would fall under the category of an extremist militia as defined by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
But this I know, the People's Settlement are not Tea Party activists. No, far from it.
So who/what is this group? I guess you could call it an umbrella organization of several politically liberal causes, such as Catholic Action Network, Show Me No Hate and the Instead of War Coalition.
And...for the next several days they're protesting downtown, including a rally tomorrow outside the Bank of America building, Friday's demonstration outside Peabody Energy to highlight that company's "destruction of the Earth", and Monday's "March of the Unemployed."
Details of the protests after the jump...
Who: 20 Organizations involved in 10 actions over 5 days with hundreds of people participating.
When: Begins at 3:45pm at the Bank of America Headquarters at 8th and Market, Wednesday March 24th, continues through 12pm on March 29th. Takes place throughout downtown.
What: The People's Settlement is a common progressive response to the increasing stranglehold of corporations on the political process in the United States and corporate control over people's lives. On Wednesday, homeowners in serious danger of losing their homes will demand that Bank of America give them permanent loan modifications. On Thursday, State Workers will demonstrate the absurdity of a revenue system where corporations continue to get tax breaks for filing their taxes online while state budget cuts to services for women and children increase, and Lesbian Bisexual Gay and Transgender groups will protest the discriminatory practices of many of St. Louis' largest corporations. On Friday, Peabody Energy's destruction of the Earth will be highlighted. Saturday will see support of public education, and an interfaith service against financial power will be held Sunday. Monday will host a March of the Unemployed.
There are 100 people expected for the Wednesday kickoff rally at Bank of America. There will be community, faith and labor leaders, as well as victims of predatory lending and unemployed, side-by-side, many of whom are available to interviews.
Settlement organizer Colleen Kelly stated, "After the recent Supreme Court ruling granting corporations personhood, we realized that we needed to do something. We often complain about what the political process does or does not do for working people. But frankly, whether your issues are social, economic or a combination, corporate power and money is what is keeping reform from happening. Many of us have banded together to show that another way is possible and that people are not satisfied with the way our economy works."
Follow the settlement on our blog and our social networks:
http://peoplessettlement.blogspot.com/
twitter.com/organizemo
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=375440387465&ref=mf#!/event.php?eid=375440387465&ref=ts